''Arnala'' class was an Indian designation for the Petya III-class vessels of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

. Although these vessels were classified as frigates in the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

, they were classified by the Indian Navy as anti-submarine

corvettes A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

due to their role and smaller size. Vessels of the class were named for Indian islands.

Operational history

and were part of the task force for Operation Trident during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. The hulls of this class were of relatively inferior quality built only 5mm thick for use in the

Baltic sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

and Black seas, compared to the rest of the Navy's mostly

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

built ships which had 8mm thick hulls requiring the vessels to undergo major refit every 5 years to prevent

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...

. The Indian Navy constructed the Naval Dockyard at

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

, primarily to service

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n vessels. But given the lack of engineering support from Russia there were inordinate delays in completing the servicing facility. This resulted in considerable delay of the second refit for , which was in poor repair and subsequently was lost at sea in conditions, east of

on 21 August 1990 around 2:03 pm, where it was conducting anti-submarine exercises with five other Indian warships. The Andaman's loss cost the navy an estimated Rs 8 crore, including the initial cost of the ship and weapons on board, as well as the lives of 15 sailors.

Vessels

The corvettes of this class constituted the 31st Patrol Vessel Squadron of the Eastern Naval Command and the 32nd Patrol Vessel Squadron of the Western Naval Command.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnala-class corvette Corvette classes Corvettes of the Indian Navy India–Soviet Union relations